Under second-year head coach Juwan Howard, Michigan Wolverines basketball is the No. 1 seed in the East Region and set to take on the winner of the 16-seed matchup between Mount St. Mary's and Texas Southern Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Ind.

Entering this first weekend, we ask — and try to make sense of — three key questions about the Wolverines. Topics include...

• A look at Michigan's first two potential opponents

• Things the Maize and Blue can improve at this weekend

• What an "outlier" is and how Michigan can find one this postseason

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Michigan has advanced to the Sweet 16 or further in five of the last seven years, including two national title game appearances. Juwan Howard is looking to carry on the tradition of high-level postseason success that he had a huge hand in as a player and that John Beilein, the winningest coach in program history, revived and carried on during his 12-year run at the helm from 2007-19.

Michigan will get the winner of No. 16 seeds Mount St. Mary's and Texas Southern Saturday in its opener. This was a favorable draw in that these are the two lowest-ranked teams in the entire field on Kenpom (219 and 229, respectively) and they have a play-in game Thursday with an ensuing quick turnaround.

Barring something crazy happening, Michigan should and will get past its first opponent, whoever it ends up being. Then, it gets interesting. Both LSU (eight seed) and St. Bonaventure (nine seed) have the capability to get past the Wolverines, who are without senior forward Isaiah Livers (out indefinitely with a foot injury).

While LSU has the country's fifth-most efficient offense, it ranks 125th nationally and ninth in the weak SEC in defensive efficiency. The Tigers have been inconsistent throughout the season and have nine total losses while playing the country's 37th-toughest schedule.

But the Tigers' personnel looks a lot similar to Ohio State's, one of the few teams that Michigan has had a tough time defending this season, with big, athletic guards (junior Javonte Smart and freshman Cameron Thomas) and a big man (sophomore Trendon Watford) who stretches the floor and can shoot it from deep. Michigan is the much better team — to be clear — but it's about matchups in the NCAA Tournament, and the Tigers' offense may be a bad one for the Wolverines' defense. Couple that with the fact that Michigan's offense loses a lot of consistency with Livers not on the floor, and it could get tricky. It's one to watch, at the very least.

With that said, there's no guarantee LSU gets past a good St. Bonaventure team that won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title and tournament championship. The Bonnies pride themselves on defense (17th in the country), and have a very capable offense that ranks 38th in the country. There aren't many "easy" games in the NCAA Tournament, and it appears the Wolverines are in for a battle no matter who they get in the second round.

Still, even without Livers, Michigan is a nearly 3-to-1 favorite to make the Sweet 16. The smart money is on the Wolverines to stay in Indy at least another week.